President Bola Tinubu, on Saturday in Owerri, Imo State capital, advised young graduates to embrace farming and vocational training in addition to their academic qualifications.

Mr Tinubu said this in a goodwill message at the 36th convocation of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.

“The period white-collar jobs were readily available has faded away,” he said in the message read by Florence Obi, vice chancellor of the University of Calabar.

“I urge you to harness the potential in agriculture, vocational skills and information technology to add value to yourself and the nation.”

The president also emphasised the need for quality education to speed up Nigeria’s economic development, saying his administration places much premium on educational growth.

Mr Tinubu said his administration had repositioned federal universities to enable them to conduct research to solve the nation’s challenges.

“Education is a major fulcrum for national development; it is a catalyst for alleviating poverty and promoting economic growth and development.

“This fact remains sacrosanct for my administration, hence the inclusion of education among the eight priority areas, which include economy, security, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and health.

“To further underscore the federal government’s commitment towards tertiary education, we established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund dedicated to granting students fees and personal upkeep loans.

“A total of N33 billion was made available to start the programme, which commenced this year with six pilot universities from each of the geopolitical zones,” he stated.

Mr Tinubu further said the federal government had made substantial interventions in FUTO to upgrade its facilities and infrastructure.

The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo, and his Borno counterpart, Babangida Zulum, were conferred honorary doctorate degrees at the ceremony.

(NAN)